Basketballghana.com can confirm the 2020 Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges (UPAC) Basketball Championship has been suspended until further notice.
The suspension comes after deliberation between organizers Rite Sports Limited, Sponsors and Heads of participating institutions in the wake of Corona Virus outbreak.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo recently announced a ban on public gatherings for several activities including sports events as a measure to curb the spread.
The 2020 UPAC is sponsored by CAL, MTN and Decathlon and had concluded two of eight zonal qualifiers prior to the announcement.
Radford University topped Zone One and has qualified to compete at the national stage at a yet to be determined new date. The national competition was originally scheduled to take place between April 16 and April 18 in the West African country’s capital, Accra.
Takoradi Technical University topped Zone Two this past weekend with the games being played at University of Cape Coast’s Gymnasium.
Below is a full statement on the competition’s suspension:
Press Release
2020 UPAC BASKETBALL SUSPENDED
Following the directive from the President of Ghana Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Rite Sports suspends the 2020 UPAC Basketball Championship for a few weeks.
This year’s championship started on Sat March 7 in Eastern Region with Radford University College winning Zone 1 and Takoradi Technical University winning Zone 2 last Saturday 14th March in Cape Coast over one of the Championship favourites University of Cape Coast.
As part of measures to ensure the safety of athletes and teaming fans, Rite Sports in consultation with key stakeholders and also adhering to the directive of the President will suspend Zone 3, 4 and 5 Games which were to be played at University of Professional Studies, Sunyani Technical University and Kumasi Technical University.
The team is vigilantly monitoring the COVID-19 updates in Ghana to determine the way forward for this year’s Championship.
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by this unprecedented event and we appreciate the health workers, local authorities and government working to contain this corona virus
We thank our sponsors MTN, Cal Bank and Decathlon for their support this year. For further clarification on this release please send inquiries to ritesportsgh@gmail.com.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
